Documents reveal sea burials for 13 USS Indianapolis sailors
Associated PressHONOLULU — Navy Seaman 2nd Class George David Payne was just 17 years old when a Japanese submarine torpedoed his ship in the last weeks of World War II, sinking the vessel and killing him along with more than 800 other U.S. sailors. The teenager from the town of Wyoming, Michigan, is one of 13 sailors from the USS Indianapolis recently discovered to have been given Navy committal ceremonies 77 years ago. Payne said his older brother was known as a “quiet, well-behaved kid.” Rick Stone, retired chief naval historian a the Naval History and Heritage Command, said researchers found the names of the 13 sailors in deck logs, commanders’ reports and war diaries kept by the seven ships that recovered bodies. “Giving their loved ones and their families some kind of closure — I mean frankly and in all sincerity — it’s the greatest gift I can imagine,” Stone said. Stone’s group, Chief Rick Stone and Family Charitable Foundation worked with the Naval History and Heritage Command, the Navy Casualty Office, the USS Indianapolis Survivors Association and the USS Indianapolis Legacy Organization to find their names.
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